Shloka 21
Dharma of Non-Injury, Non-Stealing, Purity, and Avoidance of Hypocrisy (Ācāra and Saṅkarya-Nivṛtti)
अनृतात् पारदार्याच्च तथाभक्ष्यस्य भक्षणात् / अश्रौतधर्माचरणात् क्षिप्रं नश्यति वै कुलम्
anṛtāt pāradāryācca tathābhakṣyasya bhakṣaṇāt / aśrautadharmācaraṇāt kṣipraṃ naśyati vai kulam
Par le mensonge, par l’adultère, par la consommation de ce qui est interdit, et par la pratique de rites et de conduites non sanctionnés par le Veda, une lignée périt en vérité promptement.
Lord Kūrma (Viṣṇu) instructing on dharma and social-spiritual decline
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
Indirectly: it teaches that adharma (untruth, adultery, forbidden consumption, and non-Vedic conduct) destabilizes the moral order that supports inner purity; such purity is treated in the Purāṇic tradition as a prerequisite for steady knowledge of the Self.
No specific technique is taught in this verse; it supplies the yama-like ethical groundwork—truthfulness, sexual restraint, disciplined diet, and scripturally aligned conduct—without which higher practice (including Pāśupata-oriented devotion and meditation found elsewhere in the Kūrma Purāṇa) is said to fail.
It does not name Śiva explicitly; however, the Kūrma Purāṇa’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis is reflected in the shared insistence on Veda-aligned dharma and self-restraint as the common foundation for devotion and liberation, regardless of whether one approaches through Viṣṇu or Śiva.